Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod) by Heather Brewer

Excerpt:

"A tree branch slapped John Craig across the face, scraping his skin, but he kept on running and ignored the stabbing of pine needles on his bare feet. He could hear the man's footsteps behind him, echoing his own.

The man was getting closer.

A fallen branch grabbed John's ankle and he fell forward. Time slowed to a crawl as his face neared the leaf-covered ground. Cold air whipped across his skin. His heart drummed in his ears. The man's pace quickened, and just as John's cheek smacked against the earth, the stranger grabbed a fistful of John's hair and pulled his head back. John screeched. 'What do you want from me?' but his attacker didn't answer.

John swung his arms behind him to knock the man down, but his hands were caught effortlessly in the air and bound behind him. John's head jerked back as the man gave his hair a violent tug and growled, 'Where is he?'

Tears coated John's cheeks and he shook his head, refusing to answer.

Something warm and slick ran down John's forehead. Through red-tinted glass, he looked at the forest around them. He screamed for help until his lungs burned, but help wouldn't come.

'Where's the boy? Where's Vlad? [The attacker was looking for a boy named Vladimir Tod.]

John wriggled. the man's face was near his. cold breath beat down on the back of his neck, and something sharp grazed against his skin.

'Tell me or die.'

John opened his mouth to speak, but it was too late for lies. The man bit down. Fangs popped through John's skin, cutting deep into his neck."

As the days pass, Vlad, or should I say Vladimir Tod, an eighth grader at Bathory Junior High becomes more disturbed about the mystery of his favorite eighth grade teacher's whereabouts. Vlad is so concerned that he goes to his teacher's house in the middle of the night. A thought that the police may have missed something crosses his mind. When Vlad reaches the house, to his surprise he discovers a strange symbol carved into the wood across the porch. It looks like this [draw the symbol on the board].

Something moved. Someone's in the house. Vlad goes in.

Is it his missing teacher, or has someone else set a trap, hoping Vlad would come?

Why was that symbol etched onto the porch?

Why didn't Vlad run, why did he have to go inside?

If you like vampire stories, I would recommend The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer.